


Just Sanji

by XingPanda



Series: justice will prevail, you say? [9]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Gen, Smoking, marine AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-22
Updated: 2018-10-22
Packaged: 2019-08-06 02:01:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16379270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/XingPanda/pseuds/XingPanda
Summary: Sanji wants to be a marine. Hopefully his past won't be an issue...





	Just Sanji

Sanji never thought he would be a marine. His formative years were spent with assassins and pirates so the thought of allying himself with the government had honestly never crossed his mind. Not to mention he’s always considered himself more of a lover than a fighter. Yet here he was at Marine HQ. Black suit traded in for a white and blue uniform. At least he could still hide cigarettes in the pockets. That was important. He had one vice…okay he had multiple vices but the one he wasn’t willing to give up was smoking.

Zeff hated it and was constantly yelling at him to quit but Sanji’s pallet hadn’t dulled yet and he was content not to think about the more deadly side effects. In Sanji’s mind, the pros outweighed the cons. When he had started smoking around 12 years old, he was kind of a messed up kid. Trauma isn’t pretty and Sanji had had enough of it to fuck him up for a lifetime. He had read in a book that nicotine could have a calming effect. So the next time Sanji woke from a nightmare he grabbed one of the cancer sticks he’d stolen from a fellow cook, lit it up, and nearly coughed his lungs out. Against his body’s best judgement he then managed to take another deep breath in, bringing smoke into his lungs and holding it for a minute before breathing out. It quickly became a habit. Feel a panic attack coming on? Cigarette. Another nightmare? Cigarette.

By the time Zeff found out, Sanji was too addicted to stop. Not that Zeff didn't try but fatherhood had never come easy to him and Sanji was one hell of a problem child. Zeff loved his little eggplant though, and Sanji adored his father. Customers and cooks alike often thought that the two blond men were biologically related. Neither Sanji nor Zeff ever corrected them. They were father and son, and that was all that needed to be said on the matter.

It was hard to leave the Baratie, it was the only place he’d ever truly felt at home. He had a family there, a _real_ family. Honestly it still kind of blew his mind that he considered all of those guys his family. It had taken a long time for Sanji to feel safe around men. Even when working on the Orbit, he had always been wary of the other male cooks, waiting for them to realize how useless he was. Zeff and the Baratie boys changed all that. Sure, he would still always be more at ease around women but at least he could say he wasn’t downright afraid of other men.

Sanji shook his head to clear his thoughts. He was a marine now. Or…going to be a marine. He still had to go through training but considering he was technically scouted by the Donquixote brothers he figured the top brass wouldn’t try and kick him out right away. Sanji just had to make sure no one found out about his varied past. Easy.

 

“So, you got a last name Sanji?” Doflamingo asked from his perch atop his desk. The younger Donquixote sat behind the desk. There were other chairs in there and Sanji wondered why Doflamingo didn’t just grab one of those. Though based on his limited interaction with Doffy and his crew when they stopped by the Baratie, his weirdness wasn’t necessarily a surprise. Eh, to each their own.

“Uh. No…no sir,” Sanji replied. “Just Sanji.”

Doffy hmm’d and looked down at him. Sanji itched for a cigarette. Rosi began to thumb through a file behind the desk.

Sanji hoped that wasn’t a file on him. What could even be in there? God he needed a smoke. He can’t just pull one out right? He knew that Doflamingo’s brother smoked so it probably wasn’t too frowned upon here but this was like…a professional space. He can’t just…no no he can’t.

Doflamingo seemed to get some sort of enjoyment out of seeing the young man sweat bullets because he broke out into a huge smile.

“That’s funny, Just Sanji. Cause you look really familiar.”

Sanji carefully schooled his features. They probably just knew about Zeff. He did used to be a notorious pirate after all. No need to freak out yet. He can talk his way out of that.

“He’s teasing you, Sanji. We know who you are,” Rosi sighed. Doffy pouted at Rosi.

“Aww, I was gonna string him along a little more – Ha! String! Get it?”

“I get it.” Rosi bit down on a smile. Ever the professional that one.

Sanji meanwhile had gone white as a sheet.

“Who I am,” he slowly said.

“That eyebrow is pretty distinctive in North Blue. Not to mention your name is the same as the dead prince, it wasn’t hard to piece together,” Rosi stated, closing the file and putting it down.

 _Cool cool cool cool. Worst case scenario. Okay, cool. Cool good, love this_ , Sanji thought as he reached inside his pants to pull out a cigarette and his lighter. Social consequences be damned. He lit one up and inhaled.

“So,” he said breathing out smoke in a steady stream, “You planning on turning me over to them or what? I’m not gonna go quietly I’m warning you now.” It took all of Sanji’s effort to keep his voice and hands steady.

Rosi and Doffy shared a look.

“Look kid, we just wanna know what’s up with you,” Doffy said as he gestured towards Sanji. “A Vins—”

“Don’t.” Sanji grit his teeth, almost splitting his cigarette in half. “I don’t go by that name. I’m not one of them.”

“Listen, if you want us to keep this quiet you have to come clean. I’m not gonna put my neck on the chopping block for some brat I don’t even know.”

“I might,” Rosi said. Doffy shrugged.

“Rosi might but we’re kind of a package deal so…fess up,” Doflamingo said with a too wide smile.

Sanji took a drag from his cigarette as he weighed his options. He could just walk out of this office right now. Say goodbye to being a marine and head back to the Baratie. His dad would be disappointed in him but he figured Zeff would probably choose an alive Sanji over a dead Vinsmoke. That was the real fear, if Sanji’s “family” managed to find him again they’d probably try and finish what they started all those years ago.

Sanji didn’t want to die…but he also didn’t want to run away. He wanted to be a marine, to find the All Blue, and to make his shitty old man proud. If putting a little bit of trust into these two strange men was what it took to try and achieve his dream then...fine.

So Sanji told them. Not everything. Not nearly everything but…it was more than he’s ever let slip to another human being before. Zeff knew some of it but Sanji had always been more than hesitant to talk about some of the more unsavory details of his early childhood.

After he had finished speaking, there was silence. Sanji hadn’t noticed but he’d let his own cigarette burn down to a stub between his fingers. At some point Rosi has started smoking as well and he sighed as he stuck the butt of his cigarette in an ashtray on the desk.

“So, now we know who you were. Who are you now?” Rosi asked.

“Just Sanji.”

“Just Sanji, huh? I guess we can make that work,” Doffy grinned. “Welcome to the marines, kid.”

Sanji quickly stuffed the remains of his cigarette in the ashtray before standing up and saluting his superior officers.

“Happy to be here, sirs.”

“We’re expecting great things from you, Sanji,” Rosi said kindly.

Sanji smiled. He knew he wasn’t going to let them down.


End file.
